Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, born in Florence, studied
composition and pianoforte at the Instituto Musicale
Cherubini and later at the Liceo Musicale of Bologna.
His mentors were Pizzetti and Casella, members of the
influential and progressive Società Italiana di Musica, a
group of composers, including Malipiero and Respighi,
with whom Castelnuovo-Tedesco became closely
associated.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s interest in writing for the
guitar began with his introduction to Andrés Segovia,
who had travelled to Italy with Manuel de Falla, at the
Venice International Festival in 1932. As a result he was
to compose over one hundred works for the guitar,
including concertos, chamber music, many solos and
some of the finest pieces for two guitars, the latter
inspired by the illustrious French duo, Ida Presti and
Alexandre Lagoya.

In 1939, as a result of Mussolini’s anti-Jewish
edicts, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was obliged to seek refuge
abroad. After settling in California, he became a prolific
writer of film music between 1940 and 1956, in the
same period composing more than seventy concert
works. As a member of the faculty of the Los Angeles
Conservatory of Music, he numbered among his pupils
Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, André Previn, and the
composer, John Williams.

A guitar tradition of duo playing stretches back to
the early nineteenth century when Fernando Sor wrote
several outstanding duets to perform with his friend,
Dionisio Aguado, while various other
composer/performers such as Mauro Giuliani and
Fernando Carulli also composed fine works for two
guitars. In the twentieth century a number of
distinguished duos established an international
reputation, the most eminent being the famous duo of
Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya to whom Castelnuovo-Tedesco dedicated the Preludes and Fugues, Op. 199.

The two movements of Fuga elegiaca for two
guitars were composed in September and October 1967,
the composition being written in response to the passing
of Ida Presti at the tragically young age of 43 in April of
that year. Fuga elegiaca proved to be one of the
composer’s final works before his death in March 1968,
and for that reason is without an opus number. The Preludio is founded on a series of repeated chords. This
begins agitato e tremante (agitated and trembling),
followed by a theme in thirds shared between the
performers and interspersed with more thickly textured
chords. The Fuga opens with a gently poignant subject
in A minor. After a short development section, this
motif returns in octaves and chords, the coda making
reference once more to the themes of the Preludio.

The Well-Tempered Guitars, 24 Preludes andFugues for two guitars, Op. 199 (1962), proved to be a
landmark in the guitar’s history and the most ambitious
undertaking for two guitars ever conceived. The first
edition was fingered by Evangelos and Liza
Assimakopoulos. The variety of moods, colours,
techniques and styles within the set is immense,
certainly in one sense paying homage to the great
precedent of J.S. Bach, but at the same time exploiting
the depths of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s gifts for melodic
inventiveness, humour, vivacity, introspection and
lyricism.

The final twelve Preludes and Fugues of the set of
24 were completed in Beverley Hills, California,
between 14 May and 3 June 1962, each movement
being carefully annotated chronologically by the
composer, and for that reason the dates are provided
below. There is an element almost of a diary here in
which Castelnuovo-Tedesco records his moods and
emotions throughout a short period entirely devoted to
the creation of this quite extraordinary collection of
pieces, so varied, colourful and brilliant, ranging from
the joyful to the melancholic. Castelnuovo-Tedesco
organizes his Preludes and Fugues by selecting the keys
for each in a cycle of rising fifths (alternating major and
minor).

Prelude No. 13 in G major (completed 14/15
May), Allegretto—Moderato e grazioso, has two
contrasting motifs, a brilliant downward plummet in
triplets and a trumpet-like fanfare of chords. The
movement ends with gentle harmonics. The Fugue, in
the form of a Minuet and Trio, is a perky dance
reminiscent of Boccherini. The Trio, a little agitated and
mysterious, sets a terse melody over a repetitive bass
before the Minuet’s return, dolce e grazioso.

Prelude No. 14 in D minor (16/17 May), begins
with a gentle tune, set to chords, Grave—sostenuto epomposo, which will provide the opening subject of the
Fugue. The Prelude explores the implications of this
theme with a few moments quasi recitativo. The Fugue
enters at a quicker pace than the Prelude. A middle
section uses some of the chordal patterns heard earlier
but transformed by the faster tempo. The final bars are
slow and funereal.

Both components of the Prelude and Fugue No. 15in A major were written on 18 May. The Prelude
begins molto animato in 2/2 time with a running
accompaniment set against the melody, I hear Americasinging/The varied carol I hear. The theme is switched
between the duo partners until ultimately both parts join
in a chorus of chordal statement culminating in a final
run, brillantissimo. The Fugue this time is in the tempo
of a gavotte, Allegretto grazioso, leading to contrasting
sections indicated as quasi Musette I and quasi MusetteII before a short reprise of the opening.

Prelude No. 16 in E minor (Prelude, 20 May,
Fugue not dated), starts agitated and tempestuously,
with rapid triplets punctuated by chords marked
squillante (shrill, sharp). In contrast the Fugue is
indicated as cupo e mesto (gloomy and melancholy).
But despite these markings, the work’s elegance
expresses a sweet sadness rather than plumbing tragic
depths, a slightly more sombre mood emerging in the
coda where the words cupo e mesto are repeated.

A touch of Badinerie (jesting) characterizes the
opening of Prelude No. 17 in B major (24/25 May),
reinforced by the instruction as quick as possible. The
glorious virtuosity of the first section with its alternating
semiquavers is followed by playful melodic passages.
But the light-hearted banter of the beginning is not to be
denied and returns in the coda rounded off by a few
bars, dolce e grave. The Fugue is in the style of a
Bourrée, deliberately reminiscent of J.S. Bach’s
keyboard writings, a charming pastiche exquisitely
crafted in honour of the great Baroque master.

One of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s favourite expression
marks, scorrevole (smooth-flowing), indicates the style
of the delightfully memorable Prelude No. 18 in F sharpminor which combines dexterity with melodic
inventiveness. In the Fugue (dated 26 May) the
composer reverts to a slow, melancholic mood, a
pensive work in which indications such as grave,dolcissimo, misterioso, intenso, espressivo and un pocoappassionato set the temperature as we reach the end of
the third book of the collection.

Marked quasi Arietta, the Prelude No. 19 in Csharp major (22/23 May) is one of the composer’s
most ethereal movements, the melody in the middle
voice drifting on a carpet of treble chords. The unusual
key contributes an extra sheen to the harmonic
resonance of the work. The Fugue takes the Prelude’s
opening and develops it further, creating an organic
unity between the two compositions.

Prelude No. 20 in G sharp minor (27/28 May)
takes as its substance repeated patterns of energetic and
rhythmic chords divided between the two guitars. The
Fugue deploys the melody of the Prelude as its subject
in the form of a decisive March in 4/4 time. An episode
in the central section offers a brief cadenza which
emerges later as a coda in terms of a grandiose chorale
and a climactic bar which returns to the original
rhythmic patterns.

With the last few compositions in flat keys, PreludeNo. 21 in E flat major (20/29 May) embarks on a
fluid lyricism, allegretto and scorrevole, in which
melody and harmony are closely integrated in a two-part
texture later broken into by accompanying chords. The
Fugue, Andantino Pastorale, takes the tempo of the
Siciliana in 6/8 time, the pastoral elements including
snatches of birdsong.

Prelude No. 22 in B flat minor (30 May and 2
June) finds the composer in diabolical mood with the
Prelude marked Allegretto mefistofelico. The
Mephistophelian aspects are expressed through rapid
demisemiquavers shared and echoed between the two
duo partners among short bursts of staccato chords, the
overall effect reminiscent of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s
solo guitar work, Capriccio Diabolico. The Fugue
continues the slightly mischievous wit though indicated
as cupo e severo (gloomy and severe).

Prelude No. 23 in F major (31 May/3 June), is
in the form of the Furlana or Forlana, a north Italian
folk courtship dance especially associated with Venice
and popular in the French court between 1690 and 1750.
The composer imbues the work with a rustic quality, the
6/8 rhythm enhanced by graceful harmonic
modulations. The Fugue is marked very tranquil—simple and idyllic. The changing of the time signature to
four-four but the retention of the main notes of the
opening Prelude’s melodic line alters the character
subtly, providing a perfect complement to the first
movement as the familiar material is modified into
expressive counterpoint.

Finally Prelude No. 24 in C minor (1/3 June)
presents an elegy to be played at pleasure, quasiimprovvisando. It is as if the composer experiences
regret at reaching the end of his long musical journey,
the Prelude being remarkable for its plaintive harmonies
as well as expressive themes. However, the rhythmic
and decisive Fugue disperses all doubt and strides
boldly forward. A cadenza episode, molto agitato,
provides a tumultuous contrast of virtuosity, until
Tempo I returns in a vigorous coda.

Thus many moods and contrasting colours have
been experienced through the composer’s intense
creative activity in the early summer of 1962. This
unique cycle of Preludes and Fugues represents one of
Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s finest achievements among his
many outstanding guitar compositions, a treasury of
imagination and vitality which in terms of extended
writing for guitar duo may never be surpassed.